Thursday, July 27, 2006

Plastering the Carnegie

Work continues on the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County. At this point the former non-fiction area (2nd floor) is being replastered in order to restore some of the original look -- before much of it was hidden by drop ceilings.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Genealogy Club upcoming program

How to Share a Local Treasure with the World: the Digitization of Henry Campbell's Civil War Diary
Tuesday, 8 August 2006
6:30 p.m. executive committee
7:00 p.m. in the Community Room-A of the Crawfordsville District Public Library

Program by Bill Helling
In 1862, Henry Campbell, a 16-year-old resident of Crawfordsville, lied about his age to enlist in the 18th Indiana Artillery Battery. He was about to be rejected because of his youth when Eli Lilly, the company commander, intervened to make Henry his personal bugler. Henry served in the battery until the end of the war, eventually earning a commission as 2nd Lieutenant, participating in campaigns in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. During this time, Henry kept a journal of his experiences, carefully recording his impressions. After the war, he gathered his notes, adding newspaper clippings, maps, and sketches. This journal, contained in three hard-bound notebooks, is now stored in the Robert T. Ramsay, Jr. Archival Center at Wabash College. Because Henry Campbell was a literate and sensitive observer, his journal is a valuable insight into the Civil War from the perspective of an ordinary soldier. How can you access this "local treasure"? Wabash College and CDPL have been cooperating in order to digitize the manuscript. In this program, Bill Helling will describe the challenges and difficulties involved in making a Civil War journal usable and accessible to all.The program is open to the public; you don't have to be a member to attend.

For more information, please contact:

765-362-2242
Dian Moore, Local History Librarian (Ex. 119), or Dellie Craig, Activities Director (Ex. 118)
Weekdays: 9 a.m. -- 5 p.m.
E-mail: gen@cdpl.lib.in.us

Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Carnegie update

Crawfordsville District Public Library director Larry Hathaway reports that the renovation of the Carnegie building is moving along with several of the trades still working - plumbing, HVAC, electricians, and plasterers. Carpenters are replacing the rectangular windows while the large windows are still under fabrication. All state and local requirements have been met regarding cleaning of contaminated soil from the underground fuel tank, so the parking lot can be surfaced soon. Much patience has accompanied good decisions for the future of the original library. (J. Clauser) Note: This view is of the original "stacks" area where all books were once shelved. It later became the non-fiction area when the Carnegie building expanded. The clerestory had been hidden for years by a drop ceiling.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Carnegie Building --- North Face

Have you ever seen the north face of the Carnegie building? Well, no one has since 1979 when the old Davis autombile dealership was attached to it in order to expand the public library. During the conversion process (the Carnegie building is becoming a museum), you may discover some of the building that you never saw before. And soon you will see some of the original splendor of the 1902 construction.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Imaginative Images in Cloth Sparkle at CDPL Gallery

As July fireworks burst forth and shower their sparkling beauty into the sky, so too the imaginative images of Sara Kleihauer shower their brilliance onto the newly surfaced walls of the Library's Mary Bishop Memorial Art Gallery, from Monday, July 3 until Monday, July 31, 2006.

Sara Kleihauer, aka "Crafty Lady" has been exploring as many creative mediums as she could find for most of her life. She has never been one to sit still for very long. Retiring in 2000, Sara moved to Crawfordsville and took a job at The Sewing Connection where she learned about fabric and how it could be manipulated into beautiful and intuitive designs using the art of quilting. From then on she was hooked and hasn't stopped quilting since.

Her quilting ideas, designs and productions bubble to the surface of her being in the middle of the night, at a quilt show, while sitting on the back porch or taking her golden retriever "Libby" for a walk. Of course when those ideas float to the surface, they MUST be dealt with IMMEDIATELY, if not sooner!

Sara's artistic creations and experiments speak passionately, but not necessarily in the skilled manner to which she aspires nor the one taught her by talented Sugar Creek Quilt Guild members, and most especially teacher Anita Hardwick and mentor Jean Goebel. Humbled by the invitation to exhibit at the Library in spite of what she considers "imperfections" in her work, Sara says, "if given the chance to re-create the item of concern, she wouldn't change a thing for each quilt speak volumes to her, just the way they are" . . .

Having fun with fabric is definitely Sara's bailiwick. She loves to design and create new patterns, figure out complex ones (with or without the actual pattern), and sometimes just play with fabric to see what happens.

She doesn't call herself a "serious quilter", for she has yet to create an "heirloom quilt" (haven't even started one to stash under the bed yet), but eats, sleeps and dreams quilting. She spends all her vacations visiting quilt shops and attending out-of-town Quilt Shows.

Born and raised in a small Northern Ohio town provided Sara with a perfect stepping stone to begin an exciting and adventure-filled life. After two years at Ohio University, she married and moved to Greece where she bicycled all over Europe. Returning to the US on her own, she settled in McHenry, Illinois where she worked in the research laboratories of the Quaker Oats company and met her second husband Ken Farman to whom she was married for 18 years preceding his death.

When she married husband number three, Chris Kleihauer, she not only became his wife, but a step-mom to a son 21, and two daughters 8 and 12. Though this marriage changed her entire life, Sara was so grateful to have the children and grandchildren, who continue to delight and amaze her every day, when Chris passed away just a few years later.

Sugar Creek Quilters and Outta the Box Quilters have become Sara's newest family and support group. She thrives on their workshops, retreats and quilt bees. She recently joined Common Threads Quilt Guild of Lafayette as well. She enjoys teaching patchwork, especially new techniques. Once she discovers something she simply can't wait to share it -- both the technique and the quilt itself. All her quilts are sewn on the machine, and are machine quilted as well.

Sara started "Journal Quilting" after seeing a group of journal quilts at the Chicago Illinois Quilt Show. These are roughly page-size quilts representing something she is struggling with at the moment. She often uses them to try out a new technique in a smaller format, but more often she presents herself with the challenge of creating something ordinary that has happened that month. Recently a "Journal Quilt" appeared depicting Sara's frustration with the Japanese Beetles resting on and stripping the leaves and flowers of her prized Rose Of Sharon! Another depicts what goes on inside her head in a self-portrait.

Do visit the library's gallery and experience first-hand the firecracker beauty of this unique and multi-talented woman's quilts sparkling from the walls for your viewing pleasure. See you there!

Diane Hammill
CDPL Mary Bishop Memorial Art Gallery Coordinator